Tag: God’s peace
Rejoice!
Scripture reading for September 7th: Philippians 4
Although in jail himself, Paul closed his letter with encouragement to the church to live in joy and rejoicing regardless of their circumstances. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
The church can rejoice because they are ‘in the Lord’. That alone is reason enough to rejoice. Paul believed that the Lord was near in two different ways. First, He was always present in His people and He was coming again soon for His people! This is why the church must not live in fear or anxiety! We must by prayer give all our worries to God and enjoy His peace guarding our hearts and minds.
Paul gave us two other reasons why he rejoiced and we should too. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13) Christ is our strength to face every situation! We can live by faith in His promise! “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) God will meet all our needs because He owns all the riches of this universe! We can truly rejoice along with the Apostle and Philippians in God’s wonderful provision!
The Blessing of God
Scripture reading for February 12th: Numbers 5-8
Everybody wants to be blessed! The Amplified Bible’s expanded meaning of “to be blessed” is ” happy, to be envied, ” . Blessed people have good things coming their way. They enjoy an abundance and their lives are filled with joy and peace. This peace is beyond circumstances and permeates the soul and heart. In our reading for today, we find the Aaronic blessing that God instructed Aaron to speak over His people so that God could put His Name on them and bless them.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” “So they will put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:24-27)
One of the blessings mentioned here is being kept safe by the Lord. God is a refuge for His people and an ever-present help in time of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) The Lord is all-powerful and has the ability to stop any attack on His people. He promises protection to all who are set apart for Him.
A sign of God’s blessing is His smiling face! Isn’t it great to know that God can smile and is happy with you! One way that we can make God smile is to walk in faith. Faith is a prerequisite for pleasing God. (Hebrews 11:6) When our Father is happy with us His children, we know His grace will flow to us. Grace is His unmerited favor sending more than we deserve our way.
It is interesting that this blessing comes right after the description of the Nazirite vow that could be taken by one who voluntarily wanted to consecrate himself to the Lord for a set period of time. This Nazirite vow speaks of Jesus Christ, who as known as a Nazarene, for his original home town of Nazareth. Jesus voluntarily set Himself apart to fully obey God, His Father. Jesus offered Himself fully as a sin offering for all of us. Because of His faithfulness, and by faith in Him we can enjoy better than the Aaronic blessing! We have open access to God’s throne by Jesus’ blood. We can come before Him and know His smile of pleasure and His joy is in us. His gracious gift of eternal life is ours forever! We will see His face one day!